The Red Blind has come to be one of Sigrid Hjertén's most well-known paintings, and it has often been interpreted as a self-portrait. A woman is shown lying solitary and naked in a room. She has a vacant, introverted gaze. Is her look one of ecstasy or hopelessness? And is she really alone in the room? Hjertén overturns the historically established roles of the sexes. Here we encounter the nude model, as seen through the eyes of a woman artist. Or is it an odalisque? Hjertén lets sexuality come to expression in a composition that is both introverted and explosive at the same time. She never exhibited this painting during her lifetime, perhaps she found it too private.

The Red Blind has come to be one of Sigrid Hjertén's most well-known paintings, and it has often been interpreted as a self-portrait. A woman is shown lying solitary and naked in a room. She has a vacant, introverted gaze. Is her look one of ecstasy or hopelessness? And is she really alone in the room? Hjertén overturns the historically established roles of the sexes. Here we encounter the nude model, as seen through the eyes of a woman artist. Or is it an odalisque? Hjertén lets sexuality come to expression in a composition that is both introverted and explosive at the same time. She never exhibited this painting during her lifetime, perhaps she found it too private.